The grey larch budmoth (Zeiraphera griseana [Hübner]) is a small moth that became internationally famous for its periodic, large-scale infestations of larch forests in the Engadine (Fig. 1) and other inner Alpine valleys in Europe. While public attention remains limited to the years when regional outbreaks occur, this moth has become one of science’s bestknown examples of cyclic population fluctuations.